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PATENTED FEB. 23, 1904.

F. & A. LESLIE. PROCESS OF PRODUCING DUPLICATE PRINTING PLATES.

APPLICATION FILED 00119. 1903.

N0 MODEL.

Fig.5

vmtmaooao FETER co. morouma. msnmcm Patented February 23, 1904.

U ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK LESLIE AND ARTHUR LESLIE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PROCESS OF PRODUCING DUPLICATE PRINTING-PLATES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 752,846, dated February23, 1904:.

M Application filed October 19,1903. Serial No. 177,635. (No specimens.)

To all whom it wtay concern:

Be it known that we, FRANK LEsLIE and AR- THUR LESLIE, citizens of theUnited States, residing in the city of New York, in the borough ofManhattan and State of New York, have invented certain newandusefulImprovements in Processes of Producing Duplicate Printing-Plates, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Our invention relates to processes of reproducing engraved plates toobtain any desired number of duplicate printing surfaces or cutstherefrom.

The object of our invention is to devise a way of obtaining duplicatesfrom an original plate which has been engraved by an etching process inthe simplest and cheapest possible manner and in such form that they canbe sent through the mails or by express at small cost and to avoid theexpense and time required in the usual electrotyping or stereotypingprocesses.

The utility of our invention is most apparent in the duplication ofhalf-tone plates, our

improved process consisting, essentially, in etching the originialhalf-tone plate in steel instead of in copper or zinc, as heretofore,this original steel plate becoming a male die. Then a female steel dieof the same subject is also made by etching. These two original dies arethen used to emboss a thin aluminium or other metal plate, which duringthe embossing process may or may not be backed up by paper or othersimilar material. The embossed plate is the final article of theprocess, and obviously as many of them can be struck off from the diesas desired. We claim this plate as a new article of manufacture. Suchplates are to be mounted upon a block andused either directly as theprinting-surface to receive the ink and make the impression or as asurface to be stereotyped or electrotyped,

' which is the equivalent.

female die.

sponding diesacting upon a sheet of metal. Fig. 4 .shows the samearrangement of dies acting upon a sheet of metal having a backing. Fig.5 shows the finished embossed plate or printing-surface, and Fig. 6shows the same plate with a backing.

The first step in our process is the production of one of the originalplates.

half-tone plate representing a picture, reading-matter, chart, or othersubject to be printed. This plate we preferably make of hardened steel,although our invention is not con fined to the material, and the pictureor other design is produced by etching with acid. B indicates anotherplate, containing the same en graved subject and being a counterpart ofplate A, except that it is formed as a female with respect to thesurface of the plate A. This female plate is also of steel, preferably,and is produced by etching. We now take these two etched plates A and Band place them in a press in a relation where they will act ascorrespondin g opposing dies, the raised parts of one plate fitting intothe depressed parts of the other. From these dies we make any desirednumber of reproductions of the male by placing thin sheetsof aluminium,copper, or other suitable material (indicated by a) between themsuccessively and pressing the dies together. This pressing operationembosses the intervening plate and reproduces on one of its sides asurface corresponding in all respects with that of the male die and onthe other side a surface corresponding in all respects with thatof theThe plate a is then a finished product of our process and is to be usedby mounting it upon a suitable block'in any suitable manner with themale embossed side up to receive the ink or color and directly make theimpression or to be used to form a matrix for stereotyping purposes.

For newspaper-printing we may prepare the printing-plate in the mannerillustrated in Fig. 4. The plate a is provided with a backing of'paperor other similar material and then embossed between the two dies. Thisbacking serves as a reinforce, the finished plate being seen in Fig. 6.

The merit of our process will be appreciated This is indicated at A andmaybe understood to be a at once when it is understood that theduplicates of the original plates can be made as rapidly as the sheets aor a and 6 can be placed between the dies and pressure brought to bear.This is far more rapid than any other known process, the electrotypingprocess which is most in vogue requiring several hours.

Having described our invention, we claim 1. An article of manufacture,consisting of a metal sheet or plate having embossed therein areproduction of an etched half-tone plate, substantially as described.

2. The process of making duplicate print ing-surfaces of an originalhalf-tone plate which consists in making a second half-tone platesimilar in all respects to the original, except that its surface is afemale with respect to that of the original plate, then placing a sheetof material between said plates and using I the latter as a pair of diesto emboss the intervening plate and reproduce thereon the surface of theoriginal plate.

3. The process of making duplicate printing-plates from an originalplate, which consists in etching a half-tone in a steel plate, thenetching the same half-tone, but as a female with respect thereto, in asecond steel plate, then making the printing-plate by embossing itbetween the male and female plates to produce on one side of theprinting-plate a FRANK LESLIE. ARTHUR LESLIE.

Witnesses:

FRANK S. OBER, WM. A. ROsENBAUM.

